Vehicle body construction



I. B. COOPER Feb. 7, 1939.

VEHICLE B ODY C ONSTRUCTI ON Filed April 27, 1938 INVENTOR,

I'm/b1 116 ATTORNEY.

V Patented Feb. 7, 1939 [TED STATES IENT, OF

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Application April 21, 1938, "Serial No. 204,543 (o1. 29e-z2),

' 1 fairly-Patent No. 2,107,854 '1 have disclosed Q certain improvements in theelongate'dframe V 5 definitely but which, in order to attain a par- 7 ticular position at the site, has to be moved over rough ground, the improvements therein set "forth, being of such nature as peculiarly to strengthen the structure without presence of underneath trussing which would interfere with the movements of the car.

It is desired to provide a car of this class which will have booths arranged along one wall, as its front wall, hence involving increasing its length '15 so as to include an appreciable number of the booths, and which will have a central door in said wall.- This means that there is to be taken into r I account not only the greater dead weight (with consequently greater potential live weight) in g proportion of the length of the car but the break in said wall incident to the door in con- I structing that part of the frame structure which includes said wall so that said structure will be amply rigid and strong-that is to say, not only generallyor with respect to the whole length of saidpart of the frame structure, but preferably also with respect to each portion or section thereof which flanks the doorway. i The present invention therefore consists in a 80 frame structure of the class referred to which I has these considerations in view.

In the drawing, 7 Fig. 1 is an isometric view of the improve frame structure as seen from the front, and, Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan of the car with w the roof removed. I

The elements of the frame structure are of vsteeland, as in my said patented construction, wherever they are stated or shown to be contiguous to each other within any wall of the 7 structure or at the junctures of walls'they are rigidly connected together, as by welding. And in so far as the following elements are concerned the frame structure is or'may be all substantially thesameas in said patented construction, to wit: Thecross-beams I; the rails 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 of thegfloor-frame; the uprights which support the roof, being columns I and posts 8; the horizon'talrail 9 at one end; the downwardly converging bars or rails l3 at the back; and the rails. I5'l6, arches i1 and panel H! of the roofframe. Inthepresent case there is a single upstanding grid l9 affixed to rail 5 and having appreciable efiect to'reinfo'rce the floor structure; it

'55, supports a counter 20 and adjacent thereto areseatsor stools 2|. Instead of at the front there being a single horizontal rail extending from one remote end upright or column I to the other and because of the doorway 22 left existing between the two adjacent uprights or mid-posts of the 5 two series of front uprights there are two such rails, 23, respectively extending from said columns to said mid-posts and demarking the lower I sides of the window openings at 24. And instead of the rail opposite to end rail 9 being continuous 10 there are two alined rails 9a affording a doorway 25. Further, there are cross-beams Ia between the cross-beams I of the floor-frame. Referring, now, to the improvements herein clamed:

Means, here at the front part of the structure, 15 forms therewith a truss, such means including a pair of tie-rails 26 which converge downwardly from respectively substantially the junctures a of the rails 23 and the remote end uprights or columns 1 of the two series of uprights to, respec- 20 tively, substantially the junctures b of rail 2 and theinnermost end uprights or mid-posts 8 of the two series, and such means here also and preferably including two other tie rails 26 which converge downwardly from substantially the junc- 25 tures a to points c of the rail 2 which are about midway between points b and said remote end uprights. For bracing each remote end upright against the pull of the corresponding tie rails there is a brace rail 21 extending from juncture 30 a to a point d between point e and such upright. Thus the structure at its front part exists with a truss active with respect to the whole length of said part.

Due to the increased load to be independently 35 imposed on each section of the front part of the structure defined by rails 2, I 5 and aseries of uprights such section should within itself be reinforce-d, which to some extent is accomplished by the rail 26. But preferably from substantial- 40 lythe juncture of the corresponding innermost end upright or mid-post 8 with rail 23 to substana and hence potential live load. The partition 3| defines an' apartment at the back of the structure to serve as a retiring room and at 32 are the work-counters.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. In combination, with an elongated vehicle body frame structure comprising floor and roof frames and means to support the roof frame on the floor frame including uprights arranged in a single row in two spaced substantially equallength series substantially coincident with corresponding long sides of the two frames and respectively extending from substantially the ends of the frame structure to near its mid-length I acterized by said last-named means also includand spaced alined horizontal rails traversing all the uprights of the respective series and each rigidly secured to the end uprights of the corresponding series, of means to reinforce said structure including tie-rails rigidly secured thereto approximately at the junctures of the horizontal rails with the remote end uprights'of the two series and converging downwardly to and respectively rigidly secured to said structure approximately at the junctures of the adjacent end uprights of the two series with the floor frame,

said last-named means also including in association with each series of uprights downwardly converging equal-length tie-rails respectively connected at their upper or remote ends to said structure at the junctures of the corresponding horizontal rails with the end uprights of such series and also respectively rigidly connected at their lower or adjoining ends to said structure in substantial coincidence with the floor frame.

v2. The combination set forth in claim 1 charing in association with each series of uprights another and shorter tie-rail rigidly secured to rigidly secured at its lower end to said structure 1 IRVING B. COOPER. 

